This invention relates to components for use in aquariums arranged in a novel system for filtering and aerating the water and preventing emptying of the aquarium during power failures or malfunctioning of the pump.
It is essential that environmental and bacteriological conditions be maintained in an aquarium tank, and the water held at constant level. The water must be cleaned and have sufficient oxygen to sustain the marine life. It is important to recirculate the water continuously.
In present systems the aquarium water is normally drained from the tank while the top layer of water is skimmed of debris. The water recirculates through filters and returns to the tank. Thus a clean supply of water is introduced into the tank. This presupposes that all of the components are operating properly and that the filters are maintained clean. Reference is made to a recently issued U.S. Pat. No. 4,684,462, where the water is thus circulated.
Various conventional systems remove the water from the bottom of the tank, thus leaving the surface of the water contaminated with debris and the like.
Conventionally in aquarium water purifying systems an electric pump is used for transfering the water from the filtering systems to the tank. As the filtered water is returned to the tank, it is replaced in the filtering system with unfiltered water from the tank by a siphoning tube. The siphoning tube thus serves as an essential conduit in the filtering and circulation system. The inlet to the tank is normally a U-shaped tube which simulates a siphon and can reverse drain.
In the event of power failure or the pump failing, the water in the tank will reverse drain through the U-shaped inlet tube which acts as a siphon. The inlet tube is hooked over the top edge of the tank and has one end extended to the bottom of the tank and the other end extends along the exterior of the tank and is connected to the pump. Once the pressure is removed, the water will gravitationally flow through the pump and into the filter containers positioned beneath the tank. Eventually the water overflows the filter tank and drains onto the floor therebelow.
In various systems currently in use in order to disperse the water over the filter media is customary to use a spray which is normally motorized. These devices have been found unsatisfactory since they become clogged and require constant maintenance. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A principal object is to provide a novel and improved recirculation and filtering system which obviates the shortcomings of the previous systems and which may be applied to aquarium tanks presently in use.
A further object is to provide in such a system a novel and improved siphoning structure in which the top surface of water is discharged from the tank into a compartment within the tank and is therefrom siphoned into a compartment outside the tank and passed through a filter which subdivides the outer compartment into inlet and outlet sections, the water from the tank being siphoned into the inlet section and passed therefrom through a filter into the outlet section on the way to a drain communicating with a primary filtering system.
The invention comprehends the provision of an inlet device discharging filtered water into one end of a tank and a water discharge device at the opposite end of the tank, the water inlet device comprising a U-shaped tube which has an outer leg connected to the pump and an inner leg extended to adjacent of the bottom of the tank, the inner leg having a series of narrow slots at its upper end which are partially immersed in the water and partially extending above the top surface of the water in the tank and functioning to discharge some of the water being pumped in into the top layer of the water in the tank to cause the surface water to ripple for aeration and to move the debris on the top surface of the water in the tank toward the discharge device before the debris becomes water-logged and sinks to the bottom of the tank.
Another object is to devise such an inlet tube which, if the pump should fail or power is interrupted, will prevent the tube from functioning as a siphon.
Another object is to provide a novel system for controlling water flow and purification which is adaptable to tanks in use without the neccesity of any modification thereof.
A still different object is to provide a novel filtering system in which the water being discharged from the tank is distributed over a diffuser which comprises a plate with a series of minute holes positioned to drip the water over a primary filter formed from a batting of filtering material rolled into a compact cylinder to provide extensive bacteriological support areas and filtering surfaces. The invention also provides novel labyrinthian, gravel filled passages for further filtering the water from the primary filter.
A different object is to provide a novel discharge device for the water in the tank in which such water is siphoned into a container divided into two compartments by an upright positioned removable filter sponge, the water entering one compartment and passing through the filter into the second compartment and thence into a drain in the side of the second compartment.